Writing
How Indian businesses actually work, from someone running them
Sector breakdowns built from public data and my own operating numbers, playbooks for the work that moved them, and the theses I would invest against. Drawn from ZenCabs, Shaadi Mangalam, PwC India, Equip9, MCCS Infra and Cairros.
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- 33
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- Of reading
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Essays and breakdowns
Kinds of writing
Of reading
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Push and Absorb: A Framework for Making Change and Meeting It
Whatever you are forced to deal with was, at some point, something somebody else chose to do. A framework in two mirrored halves: one for change you start, one for change that arrives.
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All writing
Sector breakdowns, operating playbooks, investment theses and thought pieces, newest first.
Sector BreakdownUPI moved ₹300 lakh crore in 2025. Who makes money from it?
UPI handled 228 billion payments in 2025, about ₹1,300 each on average. It is the most successful piece of public infrastructure in Indian commerce, and it makes almost no one money directly.
3 min read
Sector BreakdownIndia's logistics cost is 7.97% of GDP. The old 14% figure was wrong
For years the accepted figure was that logistics cost India 13% to 14% of GDP. A government-commissioned study now puts it at 7.97%, close to the US and Germany. The average hides where the real costs are.
3 min read
Sector BreakdownGlobal capability centres are now where multinationals run strategy in India
India hosts more than 2,100 global capability centres employing about 2.36 million people. They started as back offices. Many now run strategy, analytics and AI for their parent companies, and they compete for the same talent as startups.
3 min read
Sector BreakdownBike taxis and the Karnataka ban: regulation as a business risk
In June 2025 Rapido, Uber and Ola had to stop bike taxis across Karnataka. In January 2026 the High Court lifted the ban. For anyone in Indian mobility, the episode is a clear case study in regulatory risk.
3 min read
Sector BreakdownIndia has 29,000 public EV chargers. The question is where they are
Public EV charging stations in India grew more than fivefold in under three years, to about 29,300. For fleets, the count matters less than where the chargers sit and how busy they are.
2 min read
Investment ThesisWhat Byju's teaches about backing a fast grower
Byju's was valued at $22 billion in 2022 and raised money at about $225 million two years later. The warning signs were visible well before the collapse, and they are the same ones I look for in any fast-growing company.
3 min read
Investment ThesisA worked investment memo: Blinkit, from public numbers
An investment memo is judgement written down. Here is one on Blinkit, built only from published numbers, in the format I would send a partner: what it is, why now, what has to be true, and what would make me walk away.
3 min read
Operating PlaybookVoice-of-customer loops: how 27% of our users became monthly riders
At ZenCabs, voice-of-customer loops and retention plays turned 27% of the user base into 8,100 monthly active riders. A loop only works if the feedback reaches a decision. How to build one that does.
3 min read
Operating PlaybookThe one-page monthly update for a founder, board or investors
The most useful document a Chief of Staff or strategy lead writes is short. A one-page monthly update, in the same shape every month, with the bad news near the top.
3 min read
Thought PieceWhy every number on this site is one I can defend
A portfolio full of numbers is only useful if the reader can trust each one. The rules I hold every figure on this site to, and why a recruiter should expect them from anyone.
3 min read
Sector BreakdownIndian restaurants: where a 30% revenue lift comes from in an 8% market
India's food services market is growing about 8% a year. Three restaurants I worked with through Cairros grew revenue 30%, and almost none of it came from marketing.
5 min read
Sector BreakdownIndia's EV transition is running on three wheels
Electric three-wheelers are now most of India's three-wheeler sales. Electric cars are still a sliver. The difference comes down to how many kilometres a vehicle drives, and that has consequences for anyone running a fleet.
4 min read
Sector BreakdownQuick commerce in India: the economics of the ten-minute promise
Blinkit reached adjusted EBITDA profit on ₹14,386 crore of quarterly orders with a margin of about a quarter of one percent. Quick commerce works, and it works on a knife edge that depends on density.
4 min read
Sector BreakdownReligious tourism is one of the largest travel markets in India
Ayodhya drew 16.44 crore visitors in 2024. Vaishno Devi draws around 95 lakh a year, an average of 26,000 a day. Pilgrim travel is one of India's biggest travel markets, and most of the businesses serving it are tiny.
4 min read
Operating PlaybookSizing the cab market in a tier-2 city before you launch in it
An expansion case starts with a number you can defend. A bottom-up model of cab demand in Jammu from public data, with every assumption written down and tested.
5 min read
Operating PlaybookPricing is the fastest lever in a services business, and the one founders avoid
Two pricing restructures, one matrimony platform and one magazine, moved more revenue than any campaign I have run. How to change prices without losing the customers you have.
4 min read
Investment ThesisWhere applied AI pays inside Indian businesses: an operator's thesis
I have shipped three AI builds that moved an operating number: an audit tool, a content engine and the clone on this site. What they taught me about where applied AI earns money in India.
5 min read
Investment ThesisWhere Indian venture money went in 2025, and what it says
Indian tech startups raised $10.5 billion in 2025, 17% less than in 2024. Early-stage money grew while late-stage money shrank by a quarter. Read closely, the year says a lot about what investors now pay for.
4 min read
Investment ThesisOpen networks worked first in mobility. Namma Yatri shows why
Namma Yatri passed 100 million rides and ₹1,600 crore in driver earnings without taking a commission. On ONDC, mobility grew while retail shrank as subsidies ended. The difference says a lot about where open networks can win.
4 min read
Thought PieceThe zero-commission shift, seen from every chair
One change, four positions. Rapido made it, Uber and Ola absorbed it, drivers gained from it, and owned fleets had to answer it. Running my own framework on a real industry event from each chair.
4 min read
Thought PieceWhat building an AI clone of myself taught me about shipping AI
The AI clone on this site answers as me, from my real work, on free models. Getting a first answer was quick. Making it reliable enough to put in front of recruiters took nearly all the work.
4 min read
Thought PieceWhy I left Big 4 consulting to build in my hometown
Fifteen months at PwC India gave me a standard of rigour I still use every week. It also showed me how large organisations decide, which is exactly why I wanted to build inside a small one.
4 min read
Thought PieceWhat running an agency in college taught me about selling and delivering
I started Cairros in my second year of college with no brand and no balance sheet, and scaled it to seven-figure annual revenue in two years. Every engagement had to sell the next one, which taught me more than any course did.
3 min read
Thought PieceReliability is the growth strategy most Indian businesses underprice
A discount shows up in next week's numbers. Reliability shows up in next quarter's retention, which is why it gets underfunded. What five different businesses taught me about treating it as the strategy.
3 min read
Sector BreakdownElectric cabs in a tier-2 city: the unit economics from inside one
Forty cars, 10,000+ rides a month and a ₹4 Cr run-rate in six months. How an owned electric fleet makes money in Jammu, and what the last two years of Indian ride-hailing mean for the model.
8 min read
Sector BreakdownThe Indian wedding economy: enormous spend, one-time buyers and leaky funnels
India spends around ₹6 lakh crore on weddings in a single season, and almost none of those customers will buy again. That one fact explains why most wedding businesses get growth wrong.
6 min read
Sector BreakdownConstruction equipment in India: a large market that still rents by phone
India sold over 1.4 lakh construction machines in FY25, and most of them end up with small rental owners. What that means for anyone building a marketplace in the sector.
4 min read
Sector BreakdownAI in internal audit: where the hours go, and what a tool can take over
At PwC India I co-built an internal audit AI tool that saved 10,000+ hours across 200+ consultants. The industry is spending heavily on AI, and most auditors still are not using it.
4 min read
Operating PlaybookThe weekly review that took driver-side cancellations from 40% to 6%
The most useful thing I built at ZenCabs was a weekly meeting. How it was designed, from the metric tree to the agenda, and how these reviews usually fail.
5 min read
Operating PlaybookWhere margin leaks in Indian companies: notes from ₹6 Cr of client savings
Most of the savings I found as a consultant sat in approval chains, in processes that ran differently from their documents, and in hiring done in a hurry. Where to look, and how to size what you find.
4 min read
Investment ThesisBuilding for India beyond the metros: an operator's investment thesis
Outside the metros the competitor is usually a phone number and a relationship. What mobility in Jammu, matrimony and construction equipment taught me about building against that.
6 min read
Investment ThesisMarketplace metrics that flatter, and the ones I trust
Downloads, GMV and run-rate are the easiest marketplace numbers to inflate. The questions I would ask instead, learned from running growth on two marketplaces.
5 min read